Method and system for a recursive security protocol for digital copyright control

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described which utilize a recursive security protocol for the protection of digital data. These may include encrypting a bit stream with a first encryption algorithm and associating a first decryption algorithm with the encrypted bit stream. The resulting bit stream may then be encrypted with a second encryption algorithm to yield a second bit stream. This second bit stream is then associated with a second decryption algorithm. This second bit stream can then be decrypted by an intended recipient using associated keys.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims a benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) toU.S. Patent Application No. 60/390,180 entitled “Recursive SecurityProtocol System and Method For Digital Copyright Control” by William V.Oxford filed Jun. 20, 2002. All applications cited in this paragraph arefully incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to the protection of digital content,and more particularly, to the protection of digital data through the useof encryption. Even more particularly this invention relates toprotecting digital content with a recursive security protocol whichprovides both greater security and greater flexibility than currentlyutilized methods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The practice of copyright law in the past has depended on the difficultyof reproducing some physical object, whether it be a printed book, arecorded disc or a tape. To be complete, it has always been possible foran individual to reproduce such objects, but it has typically not beeneconomically viable, given either the time cost or opportunity cost oftranscribing the information contained in the physical object toanother. Also, the copies resulting from this process have, until now,tended to be of a lesser quality than the original. However, with theadvent of digital storage of information, this balance of costs has beenupset.

The value of a copyrighted work is not necessarily imbued in thephysical object which contains the creation, but rather in theinformation which makes up the work itself. Thus, when the opportunitycost of duplicating the work becomes vanishingly small (as is the casefor many digital media streams today), the copyright protection processhas to deal with that issue in a new manner. Essentially, all creationsthat can be encapsulated in digital form are subject at some point tothis concern.

Although it may be impractical to duplicate a given large digital datastream at this point in time, the cost of duplication and storage ofsuch data streams is constantly declining, as is the cost oftransmitting those data over long distances. Also, digital storageallows one to make perfect copies that do not degrade over time orthrough repeated use. As such, the lifetime of these large data sets canpotentially outlive their economic viability, at which point, it is ofmuch lower consequence whether the stream is open for free distributionor not. This length of viability places an upper limit on the amount ofsecurity that is appropriate for use in controlling access to the data.

The current state of the public art in digital security algorithms canbe readily gleaned through a perusal of online information or via thevarious publications and patents which examine this subject, some of themore recent of which include U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,652; U.S. Pat. No.6,330,670; U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,070; U.S. Patent Publication No.20020013772; U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,742; U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,605; and“Architectural Support for Copy and Tamper-Resistant Software, by DavidLie, et al. (Proceedings of the 9th Annual Conference on ArchitecturalSupport for Programming Languages and Operating Systems aka ASPLOS-IX,Cambridge, Mass. 2000) all of which are fully incorporated fully hereinby reference.

Prior art systems utilize a few basic operational categories of digitaldata encryption and decryption technologies. These categories are basedon the use of the security algorithms themselves and are independent ofthe actual mechanism for encrypting or decrypting the actual data. Thesewell-known technologies and widely described classifications andtechnologies are:

One-Way Hashing mechanisms and/or Message Digests.

Message Authentication Systems Digital Signatures Secret Key EncryptionSystems Public Key Encryption Systems

The means by which these technologies are used in a given securitysystem is known as a security protocol. Note that the security protocolis independent of the actual underlying mechanics of how the variousfunctions are implemented. As such, even a perfectly secure encryptionalgorithm may potentially be used inside a security protocol thatcompromises overall security in such as way as to defeat the secureaspect of the encryption technology itself. Consequently, the overallsecurity of any given security system is dependent not only on therelative strength of the underlying security technologies but also bythe way in which these security technologies are put into use. Priorattempts at implementing security system have made (artificial)distinctions between the various types of bit streams to be protected.On a fundamental level, all binary digital data can be reduced to astream of 1's and 0's (a bitstream), which can be stored and retrievedin a manner which is completely independent of the intended purpose orinterpretation of that bitstream. The fact that the data contained inany particular bitstream is used to convey a piece of text or aphotograph or even a piece of executable object code is not relevant tothe manner in which or the device where the bitstream is stored.

Thus, there is a need for security protocols which do not depend on anarbitrary distinction between digital data types. These protocols, whichmay utilize industry standard security technologies and other types ofsecurity standards to better and more efficiently protect digitalcontent, may themselves be expressed in terms of a digital bitstream.Thus, such a protocol would be equally capable of securing itself. Thisself-referencing behavior is known as the property of “recursion” andsuch a security protocol may be termed a “Recursive Security Protocol”.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods for security protocols, which may utilize a varietyof encryption techniques to better protect digital content aredisclosed. These systems and methods allow one to encode any bit stream(for example, an audio/video stream or other digital data, such as asoftware application) in a manner which allows a user to make as manybackup copies of the original data set as they wish, but which may stillrequire permission of any copyright holders in order to make use of suchcopies. In many embodiments, the bit stream is encrypted and this resultis associated with a decryption algorithm. This combination is in turnencrypted, with the result of this second encryption yielding a secondbit stream, which is in turn associated with a second decryptionalgorithm.

Additionally, systems are presented which embody these types ofmethodologies in computer systems, hardware, and software that aresuitable to implement these security protocols.

In some embodiments, each bit stream is decrypted using the associateddecryption algorithm and one or more keys.

In another embodiment, these keys may reside on a server or the keys mayreside in hardware on the target machine.

In yet other embodiments, these keys are contained in a key datastructure.

Still other embodiments include a key list data structure containing oneor more key data structures.

More specific embodiments include this key list data structure residingon a central server.

In another set of embodiments a message digest is used to determine ifan encrypted bit stream is genuine.

In other similar embodiments, a message digest is used to determine if adecrypted bit stream is genuine.

These, and other, aspects of the invention will be better appreciatedand understood when considered in conjunction with the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood,however, that the following description, while indicating variousembodiments of the invention and numerous specific details thereof, isgiven by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many substitutions,modifications, additions and/or rearrangements may be made within thescope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof, andthe invention includes all such substitutions, modifications, additionsand/or rearrangements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification areincluded to depict certain aspects of the invention. A clearerconception of the invention, and of the components and operation ofsystems provided with the invention, will become more readily apparentby referring to the exemplary, and therefore nonlimiting, embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, wherein identical reference numeralsdesignate the same components. The invention may be better understood byreference to one or more of these drawings in combination with thedescription presented herein. It should be noted that the featuresillustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a security protocolengine.

FIG. 2 is a representation of an embodiment of a decryption key datastructure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for an embodiment of the encryption and distributionprocess of a security protocol.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the decryption and loading process for anembodiment of a security protocol.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of one embodiment of the encryption/decryptionprocess of a security protocol.

FIG. 6 is a representation of an embodiment of a key list datastructure; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an embodiment of the temporary key ownershiptransfer procedure.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention and the various features and advantageous details thereofare explained more fully with reference to the nonlimiting embodimentsthat are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in thefollowing description. Descriptions of well known starting materials,processing techniques, components and equipment are omitted so as not tounnecessarily obscure the invention in detail. It should be understood,however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, whileindicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way ofillustration only and not by way of limitation. Various substitutions,modifications, additions and/or rearrangements within the spirit and/orscope of the underlying inventive concept will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art from this disclosure.

Attention is now directed to systems and methods for security protocolsintended to protect digital content. These security protocols areuseable for any digital content, and can also support the concept ofidentity tracing that is normally associated with a traditionalwatermarking scheme without requiring that the actual digital content bealtered. Since these protocols are based on the premise that all digitalbit streams are equal, it can even be used in a recursive fashion inorder to control access to updates to the protocol itself. In otherwords, the protocol makes no distinction between types of digital data,whether the data be media streams to be protected, the executable coderequired to play those streams, the encrypted executable code requiredto play those streams, the executable code required to decrypt theencrypted code required to play those streams, the keys to be used alongwith the decryption code, etc., etc. The digital nature of these data isall that is important to the protocol. Thus, since the nature and/or useof the digital data are of no concern to the security protocol, theprotocol is capable of protecting itself.

This capability means that the security protocol can be updated (to fixrecently discovered security holes, for example) without requiring anychanges to the hardware on which it is running, even during execution.The “older” security system is “subsumed” as a part of the newersecurity system (i.e., you never have to strip the old protection“wrapper” away in order to add a new, potentially more secure, level ofprotection to the entire system). Thus, the entire system isencapsulated in the latest, most secure encryption and/or access controlsystem. Not only may new keys be added, but entirely new security and/orencryption algorithms can be added on top of existing systems as well.

This flexibility allows the protocol to support a number of businessmodels, including Time-limited Rental, Pay-per-View, MultipleVersioning, Machine-dependent License Revocation and Permanent Transferof Ownership from one user to another.

Though a copyrighted software application is utilized in an exemplaryembodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thesame methods and systems can be used to provide security to any bitstream whatsoever, including text, video and audio data, source andobject code, etc.

The basic functions which embodiments of the security protocol aredesigned to provide include (but are not limited to) the following:

Fair Use (“Time shifting”, “Space Shifting” and archival backups)

Incremental Upgrades Temporary Transfer of Ownership Permanent Transferof Ownership Time-Limited Access

Usage-limited Access (Number of Times used)

Device-specific License Revocation Data or Stream-specific LicenseRevocation

For many security systems, one of the primary mechanisms for protectionof the intellectual property contained in a copyrighted work is simpleaccess control. However, if such a mechanism is ever bypassed, then theprotection afforded by even the most sophisticated access controlmechanism is of very little value. This is not to say that accesscontrol is a useless mechanism, but simply that it is not a totalsecurity system in and of itself. The fact that a number of copyrightedmedia streams are freely available for public consumption on theinternet is testimony to the fact that such security systems can almostalways be bypassed. This kind of access control also makes it moredifficult to establish a mechanism to make backup copies of legallypurchased copyrighted works, which is a necessity if the original isever in danger of being destroyed. Thus, the security protocol describedherein does not require any sort of access control system in order tomake it useful.

The security protocols described concentrate on controlling theexpression of the copyrighted work, not on the digital data that make upthe work itself. As such, the protocol makes no distinction betweendigital data that is used to encapsulate a copyrighted work or otherdigital data that is used to describe how that work is to beinterpreted. As a result, the protocol can even be used to encapsulateother security protocols.

Basic Operational Description:

Embodiments of the security protocol are designed to enable the authorof a piece of software to have a high degree of confidence that theircode is protected from disassembly by those who would like to copy orotherwise misappropriate its algorithm. They are also designed toprotect this code from modification by those who would attempt to alterits functionality. One of the methods by which these primarycharacteristics can be implemented in an otherwise general purposecomputing system is discussed in a following section. An additionalproperty, which occurs as a byproduct of these two primary functions, isthe ability to control the conditions under which the software can berun (i.e., when and how and on which machine or machines the code isallowed to be executed). The first of these functions may beaccomplished by adding a tamper-resistant timer element to the system.Others are accomplished by means of implementing a secure datastructure, which is used to indicate the desired conditions, which mustbe met in order to execute the code block in question. Since this datastructure is not hardware specific, it can be used in a variety of waysand is able to be modified by updating the software that is used tointerpret it. Hardware specific features utilized to implement theprotocol more efficiently are discussed, and examples of how thesefeatures can be put to use in order to support the protocol are given.Finally, we will show how the protocol can be used to protect acopyrighted work.

Embodiments of the security protocol depend on the ability to encrypt adigital bitstream in such as way as to only allow it to be decrypted byits intended recipient. This is a well-understood problem and is thebasis of a large number of industry-standard encryption algorithms.However, there are two additional factors which should be considered foruse with embodiments of the security protocol: the fact that it ishelpful if the core of the protocol is able to be fit in the(relatively) small confines of a typical on-chip Instruction Cache(I-Cache) and the fact that it be capable of running in asemi-autonomous manner. In other words, it is useful if the protocol issmall and does not require the use of a central security server fornormal day-to-day operation.

Hardware:

Turning now to FIG. 1, an example overall block diagram of a device thatis capable of executing this security protocol is shown. Elements of thesecurity protocol system may include a set of hardware blocks, whichimplement the protocol in a secure manner on a protocol engine (alsoknown as a “target unit”) 100. These blocks are not required to be castin hardware in order for the protocol to operate correctly, however, adevice that includes all of the hardware elements described below willbe capable of implementing the protocol with a minimum of overhead.

The first of these hardware blocks is a real-time clock 102. This is afree-running timer that is capable of being set or reset by a secureinteraction with a central server. Although this is not a completelyessential block, since the time may be established by conducting a queryof a secure time standard, it would be more convenient to have thisfunction be on-chip. This has to do with time-dependent softwarelicenses and examples of such will be given in a later section of thisdocument.

Another hardware element is a block of memory 110 where code that is tobe executed can be stored on-chip. This is typically known as anInstruction Cache (I-Cache), but in some embodiments an importantcharacteristic of portions of this I-Cache 110 is that the datacontained within certain blocks be readable only by CPU execution unit120. In other words, this particular block of I-Cache memory 130 isexecute-only and may not be read from nor written to by any software. Wewill refer to this special section of I-Cache as the “secured codeblock” 130. The manner by which code to be executed is actuallydeposited in this secured I-Cache block 130 may be by way of anotherhardware elements.

Additionally, there are other categories of possible “enhancements”,which can be used to accelerate the operation of a secure code block.One of these is the ability to designate a (sub)set of CPU registers 140which are either only accessible while the CPU 120 is executing securecode and/or which are cleared upon completion of execution of the securecode block (or if, for some reason the execution unit jumps to anysection of code which is located in the non-secure or “normal” I-Cache.Even though there may seem to be no possibility of the CPU 120 executinga mixture of “secured” code and “unsecured code”, one must alwaysconsider what can happen in the process of switching contexts whenjumping into interrupt routines, and where the CPU 120 context is stored(most CPU's store the context in main memory, where it is potentiallysubject to discovery at a later point by an unsecured code block).

Another possibility (other than requiring the author of the secured codeblock to explicitly identify which registers 140 are to be cleared) isto have it done automatically. This would be where the CPU executionunit 120 keeps track of which registers 140 are read from or written towhile executing inside a secured code block and then automaticallyclears them upon exiting the “secure” mode. This allows the secured codeto quickly “clean-up” after itself such that only those data that arepermitted to be shared between the two kinds of code blocks are keptintact. The “automatic” process may potentially be more secure than the“explicit” procedure, but it may make more complicated the case wherethe code author wishes to share information between secured andnon-secured code blocks.

Another potential manner for dealing with the “leaking” ofregister-stored data between secure and non-secure code segments is toidentify a unique set of registers which are to be used only when theCPU 120 is executing secured code. For some CPU architectures with largegeneral purpose register sets 140, this might at first seemprohibitively expensive. However, the same effect could be accomplishedwithout requiring an inordinate amount of overhead (i.e., without thesilicon overhead involved in implementing a physically distinct set of“secure” registers) by using a modified version of the register renamingand scoreboarding mechanism, which is practiced in many contemporary CPUdesigns. If we treat the execution of a secured code block as an atomicaction (i.e., it is non-interruptible), then these issues are easier todeal with, but this convenience may come at the price of performance andpotential overall code complexity. Note that the “secured” portion ofthe I-Cache 130 does not necessarily require a different data path tothe CPU as the “normal” portion of the I-Cache 150. In fact, the two canbe completely synonymous.

A One-Way Hash Function block 160 is also depicted. It is possible toconstruct an engine that will be able to execute embodiments of thesecurity protocol without having to implement this functionality inhardware. However, a hardware accelerator for certain parts of thehashing algorithm is certainly a desirable feature. Tradeoffs betweenhardware and software implementations of this functional block arediscussed later.

Another portion of the target unit 100 may be a hardware-assisteddecryption system 170, which uses the target unit's 100 secret keys andpublic/private keys (described later) to operate on encrypted messagesin order to translate them into executable code blocks. This decryptionsystem 170 can be implemented in a number of ways. The speed and thesecurity of the entire protocol may be dependent on the construction ofthis block, so it should be both flexible enough to accommodate securitysystem updates as well as fast enough to allow the system to performreal-time decryption of time-critical messages.

Keeping those two constraints in mind, it is not material to theprotocol exactly which encryption algorithm is used for this hardwareblock 170. In order to promote the maximum flexibility, it is assumedthat the actual hardware is general-purpose enough to be used in anon-algorithmically specific manner, but there are many different meansby which this mechanism can be implemented.

Also note that there is an on-chip Random Number Generator 180 shown inthe block diagram in dotted lines. This block is optional. Additionally,it can be replaced by a suitable off-chip method of producing a sequenceof sufficiently random numbers, which can then be used to supply seedvalues for a software-based pseudo-random number generation system. Thispseudo-random number generator can also potentially be implemented inhardware or in “secure” software. Of course, the same principletrade-off between the flexibility of a software-based system versus ahardware implementation applies in this case as well. However, since thecase where the target device 100 must generate a random number is not afrequent occurrence in this protocol, it is not likely to have an impacton overall performance if this particular function is nothardware-accelerated.

Secret Key:

Each protocol engine (“target” unit) 100 may have two sets of secret keyconstants 104 that are stored on-chip; the values of neither of whichare software-readable. The first of these keys (the primary secret key)can actually be organized as a set of secret keys, of which only one isreadable at any particular time. If the “ownership” of a unit is changed(e.g., the equipment containing the protocol engine is sold or itsownership is otherwise transferred), then the currently active primarysecret key may be “cleared” or overwritten by a different value. Thisvalue can either be transferred to the unit in a secure manner or it canbe already stored in the unit in such a manner that it is only used whenthis first key is cleared. In effect, this is equivalent to issuing anew primary secret key to that particular unit when its ownership ischanged or if there is some other reason for such a change (such as acompromised key). The only other place where this primary secret keyvalue (or set of values) is stored is on a central server at a licensingauthority.

The primary secret key may be associated with a particular target unit's100 serial number 106 in the central server's database. The serialnumber 106 can be stored anywhere on the target device 100, may besoftware accessible and has no other relationship to the primary secretkey. Any updates to the operational aspects of the unit (such asupdating the security system) may be accomplished by using the primarysecret key. If the value of this key is not known by any parties otherthan the target unit 100 and the licensing authority, it cannot be usedfor any secure transactions that do not involve a link through a securecentral server. However, since the security of this primary key is ofparamount importance, it should be used only when absolutely necessary.Thus, it probably should not be used, for example, to encrypt thecommunications link for secure transactions between the centrallicensing authority's server and the target unit. This link can besecured using a standard key exchange protocol using a temporary key,which is generated on the fly, in accordance with currently acceptedstandard practice.

The secondary secret key may be known only to the target unit 100 itself(and thus, not to the licensing authority). Since the CPU 120 of thetarget unit 100 cannot ever access the values of either the primary orthe secondary secret keys, in some sense, the target unit 100 does noteven “know” its own secret keys 104. These keys are only stored and usedwithin the security block of the target unit's CPU 120. It is thecombination of both of these secret keys that enhances the overallsecurity of the target unit. We will describe how they are used lateron.

Yet another set of keys may operate as part of a temporarypublic/private key system (also known as an asymmetric key system or aPKI system). The keys in this pair are generated on the fly and are usedfor establishing a secure communications link between similar units,without the intervention of a central server. As the security of such asystem is typically lower than that of an equivalent key lengthsymmetric key encryption system, these keys must be larger in size thanthose of the set of secret keys mentioned above. These keys may be usedin conjunction with the value that is present in the on-chip timer blockin order to guard against “replay attacks”, among other things. Sincethese keys are generated on the fly, the manner by which they aregenerated in dependent on some sort of a random number generation system180. Finally, it should be noted that care must be taken to ensure thatthe generated keys should not be contained in the class of so-called“weak” keys. The specific set of keys that are considered “weak” aredependent on the specific encryption algorithm used.

Operational Details:

The manner in which embodiments of the security protocol operate can bebroken down into several discrete processes: System Initialization,Secure Code Generation and Mass Distribution, Secure Code Loading andExecution, Key list data structure Construction, Temporary LicenseTransfer, Permanent License Transfer, System Ownership Transfer, LicenseRevocation and Security System Updates. Each of these is discussed inturn. It should be noted, however, that the examples described below arechosen for the purposes of simplicity of discussion and are notnecessarily the most efficient (nor are they the only) manner in whichthis protocol can be implemented.

System Initialization

This is the step in which the target unit's secret keys 104 are set tosome initial value. This procedure can be accomplished in one of severallocations (for either of the two secret keys, but for logisticalreasons, it should be the final step in the assembly process whereeither the serial number or the secret key can possibly be changed. Inthe case where the unit's 100 serial number is stored off-chip, thenthis procedure is most likely performed at the point of final assembly.If the serial number 106 for the unit is stored on-chip, then it wouldbe most practical to carry out this procedure at the last point in thechip manufacturing process (i.e., after the chip has been packaged), sothat any post-production or burn-in fall out has had a chance to winnowout the non-functional parts. This way, the amount of data that must bekept secure is minimized. Since the security of the entire protocol maybe based on that of the unit's secret keys 104, the initializationprocedure should be undertaken at a point where physical security ispossible.

The primary secret key should be initialized (or “burned” into thedevice) in a different procedure than the one that is used to supply thesecondary secret key. Although, in practice, this secondary key will beknown at some point (since it is programmed into the unit at some pointduring the manufacturing process), the unit with which it is associatedshould not be recorded anywhere once it is stored on the target device100. For auditing purposes, it may potentially be desirable for thetotal set of secondary secret key values to be examined independent ofknowing which parts hold which keys (to test for randomness of thedistribution, or for some other reason). In order to maintain the securenature of the system, however, it is desirable that the device whichprograms this second secret key into the unit never have any means ofassociating the secondary secret key to either the first secret key orto the target device serial number 106. Also, both of these secret keysshould be implemented in a tamper-proof manner, for reasons, which aredescribed later. It is not material in which order these two secret keysare initialized. Following the initialization procedure described in theexemplary embodiment, the only location (other than on the actual chip)where the target devices' serial number 106 and their associated primarysecret keys are co-located should be on the secure server at thelicensing authority.

Secure Code Generation and Mass Distribution

Referring briefly to FIG. 5, in an example scenario, let us suppose thata developer 520 wishes to produce an application to run under thisprotocol, which will be reasonably immune from disassembly and can onlybe executed on a specific device. Each registered developer 520 willhave a public key/private key pair which is used to authenticate anymessages which they use to communicate with the licensing authority'sserver as well as to create signed Message Authentication Codes or MACs(typically referred to as digital signatures) which can be used toauthenticate any published code blockor other bitstream.

After an application is debugged, it is encoded using anapplication-specific encryption algorithm and key(s), which are knownonly to the original developer. This application-specific algorithm andkey(s) can either be a symmetric (secret) key system or an asymmetric(PKI) key-based system. Attached to the end of the encrypted block ofcode is a MAC, which is then signed by the developer 520 using theprivate key of their published public key/private key pair (which thusforms an unambiguous digital signature for the encrypted code block).Either the digital signature or the original MAC and the correspondingCode specific ID number may be supplied to the licensing authority. Theapplication developer 520 may also choose to supply the appropriatedecoding key(s) as well (we will discuss the tradeoffs of this decisionin a later section of this document).

Note that if the application-specific algorithm is an asymmetricencryption system, it does not necessarily need to be encrypted usingthe same published PKI key pair that is used to generate the signedMessage Authentication Code (the digital signature). However, the MACthat is stored at the end of the code block should be generated using aknown hashing algorithm and must also be signed using one of thedeveloper's published public keys (thus forming the digital signature).This allows the target to verify the authenticity of the MAC using aknown hashing function and a known public key.

Moving now to FIG. 2, all application-specific encryption key datastructures 210 may contain a number of extra fields (in addition to thedecryption key itself 220). One of these fields may comprise a timestamp230 and an associated mask value 240. The second may contain a“countdown value” 250. The mask value 240 may be used in conjunctionwith the other two fields 230, 250 in order to determine when the key isvalid. It should also be noted that it is not relevant to the protocolexactly how many bits are allocated to each of the fields.

Note that the timestamp value 230 can be used in several ways, dependingon the bit pattern that is stored the in timestamp mask 240 field. Thetimestamp mask 240 value allows the developer 520 to select some subsetof the timestamp figure that is ignored when performing the comparisonwith the target unit's 100 current time. As an example, however, if weassume that the smallest resolution which is supported by the timestampfield 230 is one second, then by masking out the lower five bits of thetimestamp data 230, a particular key data structure 210 can be generatedwhich is only valid when used over the course of approximately 32seconds starting at the time which is stored in the timestamp field 230.The overall functionality of the security protocol is not dependent onthe actual resolution of the lowest order bit of the timestamp field230.

There may be other bits that are associated with the mask field 240,some of which can be used to indicate whether the key is valid before orafter the value specified in the timestamp 230. Yet another mask field240 bit can be used to indicate how the timestamp 230 and the“count-down” values 250 are associated. For example, this would beuseful in the case where the intent of the application developer 520 wasto limit the use of the software to a certain number of iterationseither prior to or after a certain date, rather than simply tied to acertain date and time window. Of course, any combination of theseconditions can be constructed, so the protocol is quite flexible in thisregard. In addition, further-flags can be included in this datastructure to indicate other properties, such as how many legal copies ofthe keys may be simultaneously distributed from the original target unit100 to others. This would be useful in the case where a multiple-copylicense were desired, such as is seen in a digital library, for example.

A flow diagram representing one embodiment the encryption process can beseen in FIG. 3. Note that there is no substantive difference between theprocess that would be used to distribute a digital media stream or asoftware application (such as the decryption instructions used tointerpret that media stream). In either case, there are a couple ofdifferent options for distributing the encrypted code block(s) 310, 320;either via an online server or on serialized discs (such as a standardDVD). In the latter case, the developer 520 can then choose topre-register the individual serial numbers of the mass-produced discswith the licensing authority 510 (or not). If so, the serial numberscould be permanently affixed to the discs either by burning them intothe Burst Cutting Area (in the case of a DVD) or by ink-jet imprinting(in the case of a standard CD). Note that the developer 520 cannot embedthese serial numbers into the data area of the CD or DVD, since the sameserial number would be replicated on all of the mass-produced discs. Ifsome sort of a hybrid format were used, where part of the disc could bemass-produced and another portion written once, then this would beanother potential method of distributing the discs with individualserial numbers. In any case, a machine-readable serial number iscertainly preferable, since it is less prone to errors during theregistration process.

If the developer 520 chooses not to register the media serial numberwith the licensing authority, then there may be some other manner bywhich the proper encryption key(s) can be associated with theapplication or media stream files. Thus, the application developer 520may either register the code-specific ID or an associated media serialnumber. In the former case, then the application can be distributedfreely (i.e., not tied to a specific release format and media).

In the case of the individual serial number mechanism, the privacy ofthe end user is maintained, since the licensing authority 510 has noneed to know (and potentially no indication of) which application (ormedia stream) is associated with which serial number(s). In the casewhere the developer 520 registers an application ID (or a media streamID) along with its associated key(s), then it is possible for thelicensing authority 510 to know which application(s) or media streamsare “owned” by a particular end user. On the other hand, this potentiallack of privacy is counterbalanced by the additional convenience andcost savings of not requiring the developer 520 to manufacture anddistribute physical media. Note that the term “physical media” does notnecessarily mean a disc. This function could be accomplished just aswell by using a printed manual (or even a simple registration form) withan individual serial number sticker attached to it. All that is requiredis that the developer 520 must produce some object with a unique serialnumber, which is supplied to the end user. The purpose of this serialnumber is to act as a bitstream registration number. We will discuss howthis serial number is used in the protocol in a following section.

For the example shown in FIG. 3, both the encrypted software application(or media stream) 310 and the machine dependent decryption software 330are distributed using the same mechanism. It is not a requirement of theprotocol that this should be the case and either or both of theencrypted code blocks 310, 330 can be distributed on-line or by pressinga disc. It should be noted, however, that in the case of a digital mediastream, the media stream itself is most likely the larger of the twoblocks 310, 330 by several orders of magnitude. Thus, in that case, itmakes the most sense to effect the distribution of at least this blockin a mass-produced disc format. In many cases, there may be enough roomon such a disc to fit the companion encrypted code block (the one whichcontains the instructions of how to decode the first block) as well asthe primary encrypted code block. It should also be noted that neitherof the two data sets would be likely to undergo any changes afterpublication, so there is no fundamental requirement that they must bedistributed online. As such, they are both well-suited to amass-produced disc based distribution mechanism. Having both of them onthe same disc also makes it easier to associate one with the other in anunambiguous fashion.

Secure Code Loading and Execution

In the case where the distribution mechanism is accomplished via anactual disc, the consumer can purchase the disc containing theapplication in exactly the same manner as a traditional softwarepurchase. Of course, the end-user would not be able to run the encryptedcode block unmodified on the processor of the “target” unit. When theuser attempts to run the application on their machine, the CPU 120 loadsthe encrypted software block and uses the digital signature (the“signed” MAC) stored at the end of the code block along with thesoftware developer's public key to verify that the code block inquestion is genuine. This is where the first hardware modification to anotherwise general purpose CPU 120 may come into play. The process forloading and decrypting such a block of secured code is shown in FIG. 4.

In order to make sure that the hashing function is computed correctly(and furthermore, that the comparison between the generated messagedigest and the “real” message digest is valid), the CPU 120 must performthis hashing function in a secure manner. Thus, the hashing functionmust either be generated directly by the hardware of the decoder unit orthe hashing function itself must be computed using a block of “secure”code, the operation of which cannot be tampered with by an otherwise“non-secure” program.

Note that in the software-based hash case, this block of secure codeshould be considered as a part of the unit's 100 security system and, assuch, may only be able to be downloaded to the player via a securetransaction between the unit 100 and the licensing authority 510.Interestingly enough, the establishment of a “secure” hashing functioncan be accomplished via the same secure protocols described herein. Thisrecursive behavior for all aspects of the security system is whatenables a software-based version of this protocol to be extremelyflexible (and thus, updateable) in its encryption/decryptionarchitecture.

If the message digest calculation is fixed in hardware, we canpotentially gain some degree of security, but this comes at the expenseof flexibility. If a dedicated hardware block is used to generate thehash value, and then some weakness in the hashing algorithm isdiscovered at some point after the chip is manufactured (or if there issome bug in its implementation), then there is no opportunity to addressthe problem after the fact. That is not to say that we cannot use somekind of hardware acceleration of the software-based hashing function(such as a programmable S-Box structure) in order to speed up theprocess. However, in that case, the hardware should ideally besufficiently general purpose to support a large variety of one-wayhashing functions.

It should be noted, however, that the security of this protocol isultimately dependent on the lowest-level function that is provided as apart of this secure code loading procedure. The low level features (suchas a secret key or a primitive operation which is used in a hashingfunction) are combined together in different ways to produce higherlevel functionality, such as a signed message digest. In turn, thesehigher level functional blocks are used to provide even higher levelutilities, such as identity verification. This process of buildinghigher-level functions on top of more primitive layers is known asbuilding a “Chain of Trust”. The flexibility of the system lies inplacing the point at which the security related functions can bemodified as low as possible within this hierarchy. However, at somepoint, the fundamental primitive operation(s) upon which this chain isbased must be atomic in nature (i.e., this is the minimum level offunctionality which must be implemented in hardware). The exact choiceof this point of hardware granularity is, for the most part, animplementation detail, and the overall operation of this protocol is notdependent on this aspect, given the conditions above.

Once the encrypted code block 310 is loaded into the target's memoryspace 110, and the message digest is calculated, the result is thencompared with a message digest which is calculated by decrypting thedigital signature 340 which was stored along with the encrypted code 310with the developer's public key. If the two are a match, then the targetunit 100 can be certain that the encrypted code block 310 is genuine (orat least that the code was distributed by the developer 520 whose publickey was used to decrypt the digital signature).

At this point, the target 100 then sends a secure message to thelicensing authority 510 requesting a copy of the decryption key(s),which will be used in concert with the recently verified encrypted codeblock. As a part of setting up the secure connection with the licensingauthority, the target unit 100 generates a temporary public/private keypair (the public portion of which is supplied to the licensing authority510 server). The details of the key exchange procedure are well knownand we need not go into the exact mechanism by which this isaccomplished in this discussion. In any case, it should be noted thatthe overall network traffic between the target unit 100 and the centralserver at the licensing authority 510 is limited to a reasonably smalldata set since it consists of a couple of key transfers, thecode-specific ID and the MAC which was stored along with it.

Assuming that the code-specific ID 260 is one that the licensingauthority 510 recognizes, there may be two possible courses of action,depending on whether or not the application author has already providedthe licensing authority 510 with a “clear” copy of the requesteddecryption key(s). In the case where the developer 520 has not providedthe licensing authority 510 with such information, then the centralserver transmits a copy of the target device's temporary public key (aswell as the code-specific ID 260 in question) to the applicationdeveloper's server. At that point, the developer's server responds tothe licensing authority 510 server with a message containing therequested decryption key(s) (encrypted with the target's temporarypublic key) and a message digest generated from the properly decryptedcode. In this manner, only the target device 100 can decrypt the messageto obtain the application-specific decryption key(s) and the licensingauthority 510 will not ever have access to the decryption key(s) inclear form.

Although the message digest can be pre-computed and stored on thelicensing authority's server, the fact that it may be provided by thedeveloper 520 during the transaction is of potential use if the hashingfunction (which is used to generate the message digest) should everchange. If this should happen, the developer 520 would need to provideupdated versions of the decrypted code message digests to the licensingauthority 510 either prior to or during the actual transaction with thetarget device 100. The developer 520 must provide this information sincethe licensing authority 510 should never have access to the original(decrypted) code. As before, the amount of network traffic between thelicensing authority's server and the developer's server is still quitesmall. The encrypted key that was received from the developer 520 isthen encrypted yet again with the target device's primary secret keyprior to transmission from the licensing authority 510 to the target.This second encryption could actually be carried out on the developer'sside as a part of the other transaction, but in that case, the developerwould potentially have access to the target unit's primary key (unlessboth keys were somehow combined), which would pose potential loss ofprivacy issues for the end user.

Note that in the case where the application developer 520 wishes to stay“out of the loop” for transactions between the licensing authority 510and the target device 100, they can simply provide the licensingauthority 510 with a copy of the relevant decryption key(s) in clear(unencrypted) form and the associated MAC for the decrypted code block(the value of which must be updated each time the hashing algorithm ischanged). Thus, the central server at the licensing authority 510 wouldbe able to act autonomously and would not be required to establish acommunications link to the developer's server in order to fulfill a keyrequest from a target unit 100. However, this poses a potential securityrisk to the developer, should this “clear key” information ever becompromised, either intentionally or unintentionally by the LicensingAuthority.

The flow diagram for the whole key encryption/decryption process isoutlined in FIG. 5. In this case, the clear key would still be encryptedprior to transmission (as above) with both the target device's temporarypublic key and then again with the target's primary secret key. At thispoint, the target device 100 has the proper decryption key in a doublyencrypted format. In the case where the licensing authority 510 does nothave access to the application specific key 550 information in theclear, then it should not be possible for anyone other than the intendedtarget device 100 to be able to reproduce this key data in clear form,since the secret key for each unit 100 should only be known to thelicensing authority 510, and the private key for the transmission isknown only by the target 100.

At this point, however, the encoded decryption key(s) which the target100 receives from the application developer 520 cannot yet be storedsafely in the open at the target 100 (e.g. in a flash ROM or backed upon a hard drive). The problem is that the target device 100 would alsohave to store a copy of the temporary private key along with the encodeddecryption key(s), which were transmitted from the licensing authority510. If someone at the licensing authority 510 were to then gain accessto these two pieces of data by some means, then they would potentiallybe able to reconstruct the decrypted application specific key 550 (giventhat they might have access to the target device 100's primary secretkey as well).

This is the point where the target device's secondary secret key comesinto use. Recall that this secondary secret key is not known to anyoneother than the decryption unit of the target unit. Thus, once thetemporary private key is used to decrypt the key, which was supplied tothe target 100 from the licensing authority, the secondary secret key isused to re-encrypt the application-specific key prior to its use (and/orarchival).

The target can then use the application specific (clear) key 550 inorder to decrypt the code block (or media stream). Thus, the only twoplaces where the application code exists in clear form are at theoriginal developer 520 itself and inside the “secured” portion of thetarget device's I-Cache 110 (where it can only be executed and can neverwritten back out to memory in clear form). This allows privacy betweenthe user and the licensing authority 510. In other words, the licensingauthority 510 does not have to know what it is that the user has alicense to (an enormous privacy advantage), but it is still able to actas a repository (or backup) for the user's key list in the case wheretheir unit 100 is damaged or stolen or otherwise rendered inoperable.

As a check to verify that the decryption process has been performedcorrectly, the message digest of the properly decrypted code is thencompared with the message digest generated by decrypting the digitalsignature, which was forwarded from the original developer 520 throughthe licensing authority 510 to the target unit 100. As was mentionedearlier, this digital signature is created by encrypting the messagedigest of the unencrypted code block with the application developer'sprivate key. Alternately, this digital signature can also be encryptedagain by the developer 520 using another temporary public key 530, whichwas supplied to the licensing authority 510 when the connection wasestablished. In any case, the correct message digest can then be decodedby the target device 100 by decrypting the digital signature with thedeveloper's public key. If this message digest matches the MAC of thedecrypted code block, then the code is considered to be genuine and itis allowed to run on the target 100. This message digest may then bere-encrypted with the target unit's secondary key 540 for archival alongwith the re-encrypted application specific key 550.

The final step in this procedure is that the newly encrypted (with thetarget device's secondary key 540) version of the application specifickey 560 is retransmitted back to the licensing authority 510 server forarchival purposes. This transmission serves a few purposes. First, it isan acknowledgement that the target device 100 was able to properlydecrypt the code block. Second, it is necessary for the licensingauthority 510 to have a copy of this encrypted key 560 in order to dealwith the case where the end user suffers some sort of catastrophic datafailure and they have neglected to make their own backup copy of theiraccess keys. The licensing authority 510 can then act as a backupstorage facility for any particular user. Yet another reason for thisprocedure is in order to deal with the case where a particular targetdevice 100 changes ownership from one user to another or if the userwishes to upgrade their target device 100. This kind of permanenttransfer of ownership can involve the transferal of all of the licensedapplication keys for that unit 100 (in which case, there is nothingwhich needs to be done other than re-registering the unit under the newowner's name). However, if the user wishes to transfer permanentownership of their key data from the first to the second device, thenthis may be accomplished by means of a secure transaction between thelicensing authority 510 and both of the target devices.

The other piece of information that the target device 100 transmits backto the licensing authority 510 server is the message digest of thetarget device's newly updated key list data structure 610 (as depictedin FIG. 6). This is both an acknowledgement of the newly updated keylist data 610 structure and is also used to verify the equivalence ofthe key list data structure 610 associated with that particular targetdevice 100 on the licensing authority 510 server and on the targetdevice 100. The exact construction of this data structure will bedescribed in the following section. We will also discuss methods bywhich permanent transfer of ownership of a particular key or set of keysis accomplished in a later section.

It should be noted at this point that the process outlined above is notthe only manner in which the protocol can be used to transfer theapplication specific key 550 from the developer 520 to the target device100. For example, the actual key transfer transaction can involve adirect connection only between the target 100 and the applicationdeveloper 520. However, in that case, a connection must be establishedbetween the developer's server and the licensing authority's server inorder to contribute the device specific encryption information to thetransaction. There are a number of mechanisms by which this protocol canbe made to work in a secure fashion, and the example discussed above isjust one of these. However, the common thread is that all three partiesmust act together in order to ensure that the key data, which istransferred to the target 100, is only useable for that target device100.

Note that the structure of a key can be set up to have two pieces: ahardware-specific part as well as an application-specific part. It isnot a requirement that these two pieces be completely inseparable. Ifthey are inseparable, then we get the properties exactly as discussedearlier. If, however, there is a way to make the key piecesindependently operable, then we can enable a global set of copy and userestrictions that could be independent of the actual code or of theactual target device 100. In other words, any developer 520 couldpublish an application or media stream which had no restrictions ondistribution, but which could not be read; only executed. This could beuseful in the case where the licensing authority 510 wanted to send outa security system update that would run on all devices, regardless ofthe manufacturer. Another example of this would be the broadcast of apublicly available media stream while still maintaining control over thecopyrights to that stream. Similarly, a publisher could distribute anapplication, which anyone could read and/or copy, but which would onlyexecute on one specific target device 100 or set of devices. This couldbe useful for sending out an “update this specific class of device”message, for example. Another possible application is to send out anapplication, which would run everywhere and had no restrictions ondistribution. This would be similar in nature to publishing the sourcecode for a particular application (i.e. open source distribution). Thedifferent classes of security which are enabled by a separableH/W-specific and S/W-specific key structure are illustrated in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Separable hardware-specific and application-specific keystructure Software or Application-Specific key segment “Locked” *“Unlocked” ** Hardware-Specific “Locked” * Restricted operationUnrestricted distribution, key segment as well as restricted butexecutable only on a distribution designated unit (e.g. code targeted toa specific unit) “Unlocked” ** Unrestricted distribution, No Restrictionbut will execute only, i.e. on operation or the code is not “readable”on distribution (i.e. public and open) * i.e., Locked to a specificserial number (or to a range of numbers) ** i.e., will work anywhere

Key List Data Structure Construction

Looking now at FIG. 6, the data structure 610 containing the list ofapplication or media-specific keys, which are licensed to a particulartarget device 100 is a valuable commodity and, as such, it should beable to be backed up by the owner. Since the individual keys areencrypted with the target's secondary secret key (as described above),the list is only useful to the unit to which the keys are licensed.However, we need to be able to make sure that this data structure 610 issecure from tampering, corruption and/or outright loss. In the case of alost key list data structure, the entire data structure 610 can berecovered by requesting a new copy of the key list for that particulartarget device 100 from the licensing authority 510, as was describedearlier. In the case where a temporary change has been made to the keylist data structure (we will discuss the reason for such a scenario inthe section following this one), then the protocol may accommodate ameans for identifying such a change as being temporary. Finally, weinclude some tamper-resistant mechanism for validating the authenticity,timeliness, and validity of the key list data structure 610.

With these requirements in mind, we can construct a secure key list datastructure 610 that exhibits all of these qualities in a manner like thatwhich is shown in FIG. 6. As always, the example shown is not the onlymethod by which all of the desired properties can be included in such adata structure. Nonetheless, the particular data structure illustratedin FIG. 6 does, in fact, fulfill all of the basic requirements of theprotocol.

There are a few basic precepts that should be noted in the diagramabove. The first is that the top-level encryption of the key list datastructure 610 must be performed with the target device's primary secretkey. There are a couple of reasons for using this particular key, butthe main issue is that the licensing authority 510 must be able toregenerate the encrypted form of this data structure independently ofthe target device 100 in the case where the local copy of this datastructure must be restored. If any other key is used to encrypt thisdata structure (such as the target's secondary secret key, for example),then when the target needs to make a change to the data structure (as isthe case when a key is added to the list), the entire list must betransferred to the licensing authority 510 for backup purposes. Thiscould potentially greatly increase the amount of network traffic thatmust be transmitted back to the licensing authority 510 and is notnecessarily the most efficient use of the channel bandwidth.

Also, it is desirable that this key list data structure 610 be used forthe storage of security system-related keys, in addition to being usedfor the storage of standard application or media stream specific licensekeys. Since this data structure is able to be regenerated by thelicensing authority 510, in cases where it is desirable to update thesecurity software which runs on the target device 100, it would be bothmore secure and more efficient (from the standpoint of code storagerequirements on the target device 100) if the same key list datastructure 610 could be used for both functions.

The second issue is that the encrypted version of the key list datastructure 610 includes a message digest of the original key list datastructure 610. It should be noted that although each of the individualkeys are encrypted, other pieces of the list itself are not separatelyencrypted at the point when the message digest is calculated. Followingthe message digest calculation, the entire key list data structure 610(including the message digest) is then encrypted with the key value andalgorithm that are identified by the top-level (or master) key. This isdone in order to prevent a malicious third party from tampering with thelist, calculating a new message digest and then substituting themodified list for the genuine one. When the key list data structure 610is read into the memory space of the target unit 100, this (decrypted)message digest is used to verify the authenticity and validity of thekey list itself in the same manner as the way that a MAC is used for anyother secure encrypted code block. The fact that all of the elementsother than the individual keys are only encrypted with the master keymeans that the list can be traversed (and the list maintained) withouthaving to have access to any keys other than the top-level key. Also, akey list inventory can be compiled with only a single pass through thedecryption block.

A third principle which is of interest is that the individualapplication code or media stream specific keys can be made large enoughto accommodate individualized keys for each target device 100. In thecase where the code or the media stream is distributed by way of amass-produced disc, this would mean that the application developer 520would need to issue a new code-specific ID along with the individualdecryption key(s). Although this may be less efficient from thestandpoint of trying to minimize the amount of data which must betransferred between all of the parties involved in the licensingprocess, it does add functionality to the protocol, including (but notlimited to) the ability to track compromised decryption keys. We willalso discuss this in a later section dealing with key revocation.

The next issue of note is that the key list data structure 610 headershares the same set of characteristics as the application specific keysthat make up the rest of the list. In fact, the header can be thought ofas a master key 620 for the rest of the key list data structure 610itself. Thus, the same principles of operation can be applied as far ashow this key can be used to determine the management of the rest of thelist. This includes time-dependent management of the security system ofthe target device 100. Thus, the target unit 100 can be forced to updateits security system at pre-determined intervals, which is an extremelypowerful concept all by itself.

The possibility also exists that the key list could contain a number ofsections, each with its own master key 620 (list header) and thus withits own independent encryption mechanism. As with any other key, thelist header contains a code specific ID field 260, which can point to anencrypted code block that is used to interpret the key list datastructure 610. The whole list could then be contained within yet anothermaster list, which includes its own master key (which is yet anotherlist header). Thus, the entire key list data structure 610 can berecursively defined. As before, this recursive property can be used toupdate the security system by creating new key list data structures toaddress shortcomings of previous versions of the same data structure.Since the security of the whole list is contained within the “outermost”(or most recent) security layer, then the security of the entire keylist data structure 610 is always based on the latest iteration of thesecurity software.

Thus, the recursive property of the key list data structure 610 is acompelling feature. It is also the reason that the exact implementationof the data structure, which was discussed in an earlier section, is notof great significance. The description provided above was simply anexample that included the features that are the minimal subset offunctionality required to make the recursive nature of the protocolwork.

Independently of how it is structured, the key list 610 may bemaintained and/or updated under several common circumstances. Thesecircumstances include (but are not limited to) the case where the statusof one or more of the keys contained in the list is modified. There area few basic mechanisms by which the ownership of a particular key 210can be transferred from one unit to another and we will discuss these inlater sections. In any case, however, the mechanism by which the revisedkey list is maintained can be split into two classes: those whichrequire the intervention of the licensing authority 510 and those whichcan be carried out independently.

One of the primary operating concepts upon which this protocol is basedis one of reducing to a minimum the amount of required network trafficbetween the central server of the licensing authority 510 and theindividual target units. Thus, any temporary changes to the key listdata structure 610 (the reasons for which we will describe below) shouldbe able to be maintained independently by the target unit 100. The mainreason for this is that these changes would ostensibly occur morefrequently than permanent changes to the device's security system (whichshould always only be accomplished by an interaction between the targetdevice 100 and the licensing authority 510).

In any case, there must be some mechanism by which the target device 100can keep track of the current state of the master key list datastructure in an unambiguous manner. This can be accomplished by havingtwo “master” lists. The first of these two lists (which we will call thepermanent key list) is maintained by the licensing authority 510. Thislist is concerned with the “permanent” ownership of the applicationspecific keys that are associated with the target unit 100 in question.The second list is of equal importance, but it is that which isconcerned with temporary modifications to the “permanent” key list datastructure. Note that these modifications can either be additions to thelist or they can be deletions from the list. There are no necessarydifferences in the implementation of the data structures of the twolists themselves; the main differences occur in how they are maintained.It is desirable that there should be some way for the target unit 100 torecover from the event where the data from one or the other of theselists is either lost. This loss can be due to some catastrophic failureor due to the case where the information contained within one of thelists is somehow corrupted (either innocently or maliciously). We willdiscuss the implications of such “key list corruption” events in a latersection. Although it is necessary that the permanent list can berestored by a connection with the licensing authority, it is notnecessary (or even desirable) for the licensing authority 510 to be ableto recover a particular target device's temporary key list. There aremany reasons for this position, but the main reason is that thetemporary key list is most likely updated much more frequently than thepermanent key list and we wish to keep the amount of required networktraffic between the central licensing authority 510 and the target unitsto an absolute minimum. Nonetheless, it may be potentially desirable forthe licensing authority 510 to be able to make modifications to aparticular target's temporary key list for several reasons (some ofwhich we will discuss later). In this case, it would be desirable tohave this list encrypted using the target device's primary secret key(which is known to the licensing authority 510).

As mentioned earlier, the integrity of both of the key list datastructures can be verified by using the signed message digest (thedigital signature), which is stored along with the list itself. Theimplementation of the secure code mechanism, which is used to generatethis message digest, was described in an earlier section and we do notneed to go over the procedure again. We have also already described theprocedure for recovering the permanent key list data structure 610 inthe case of loss and/or corruption. The only remaining issues that mustbe addressed are how to interpret the time-dependent portion of thetemporary key list data structure and how to deal with the case where atemporary key list is somehow rendered unusable.

Temporary License Transfer

This is one of the sections of the security protocol where the use ofthe timestamp field 230 is of prime importance. As discussed earlier,the temporary key list data structure is constructed in exactly the samemanner as is the target device's permanent key list. However, there area couple of differences between the two. The first difference is thatthe temporary key list can potentially be encrypted with either one ofthe target unit's secret keys 104. Since it is not necessary that thelicensing authority 510 be able to reconstruct this data structure undernormal circumstances, it is ostensibly not relevant which of the targetunit's keys is used to encrypt it. However, it would potentially be ofuse to the licensing authority 510 if this list were also encryptedusing the target unit's primary secret key. The reason for this has todo with license revocation and that situation will be discussed in alater section.

A second (and more important) distinction between the temporary and thepermanent key lists is that a copy of the timestamp value 230 which isassociated with the most recent temporary key list data structure isalso stored inside the target device 100 (i.e. on-chip). This registeris not software readable and is only able to be overwritten by securecode, as it is a part of the security block. The value in this registeris used to determine what to do in the case where the temporary key listdata structure is somehow lost and/or corrupted. We will discuss thatprocedure later on in this section.

Yet another distinction between a temporary key list and a permanent keylist is that a target unit 100 is able to (temporarily) transferownership of a particular key from its permanent list to another unit's100 temporary list, but no (correctly operating) device is able totransfer ownership of a particular key from its temporary key list toany other key list. This includes, of course, not only other units'temporary key lists, but also the target's 100 own permanent key list aswell. This means that only the permanent owner can decide which devicesare allowed (and when they are allowed to) “borrow” any particular key.Note, however, that this “loan” period can be made indefinite (and thistransaction can be carried out without the necessity of contacting thelicensing authority). This “permanent loan” feature is equivalent to thestandard “Copy Once” functionality requirement that is part of mostmodern digital Copyright Control Information (CCI) systems.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a detailed flow diagram depicting the temporary“key checkout” procedure is shown. The “key ownership” transferprocedure is somewhat similar to the procedure of checking a copy of abook out from a library. When the “borrower 720” requests the temporaryuse of a particular application specific key 550 from the permanentowner (the “lender” 710), then the lender 710 first generates an updatedtemporary key list for itself which prohibits the use of that particularkey for the duration of the key checkout negotiation process. Thisaction prohibits more than one borrower 720 unit from requesting thesame key. The presence of the “checked out key” on the temporary keylist of the lender unit 710 is effectively used as a semaphore tocontrol access to any particular key. However, the initial amount oftime that the key is placed “on restriction” should be limited to arelatively short period. This is to prevent the case where a borrower720 device requests access to a particular key for a long period of timeand then is unable to complete the transaction for some reason fromunfairly monopolizing the use of a particular key. This relatively shortcheckout negotiation phase timeout also helps in the battle against themalicious device, which may be attempting to mount the equivalent of a“denial of service” attack against the lender unit 710. In fact, thelender unit 710 can optionally ignore requests from devices which arenot on its “approved borrower” list or if any one of those units shouldtry to make too many requests within a certain time period. The exactlength of time that this temporary block is placed on the key is notimportant, but it should be long enough to allow any given checkoutprocedure to go to completion. In times of high network traffic orlatency, this period could be extended.

Note that in the case where more than one copy of a given key is allowedto be simultaneously checked out, the appropriate fields within thelender device's 710 temporary key list can be used to indicate how manycopies of a given key are checked out at any one point in time. Once theborrower 720 and the lender 710 have negotiated a specific checkoutperiod for a given key, then the lender 710 sends an encrypted copy ofthe key 740 to the borrower 720. This encryption is carried out using atemporary secret key 730, which is known only to the lender device 710.When the borrower 720 then acknowledges the accurate receipt of theencrypted key (by means of a message digest which is calculated from theencrypted message), then the lender 710 extends the “loan period” of thechecked out key and then sends the temporary secret key 730 to theborrower device 720. The maximum duration of this loan process is notimportant to the operation of the protocol and there are some tradeoffsthat must be made in the choice of this value. We will go over thoseparticular issues later on in this section. In the example discussedabove, we assume that the “borrower 720” and the “lender 710” devicesare able to negotiate the actual length of the checkout period on akey-by-key basis, although this is certainly not a requirement of theprotocol.

Just prior to the point where the temporary key list of the either theborrower 720 or the lender 710 is updated, a copy of the timestamp value230 associated with this new temporary list is stored in a non-volatilefashion on the target 100. At that point, an encrypted version of thetemporary key list data structure can be safely written out to memory(or stored in some other, more permanent location, such as on-boardNVRAM, Flash ROM or even out to a backup file on some hard disk 750.Since the temporary key list is potentially read from and updated on amuch more frequent basis than the permanent key list, it is desirablethat this list should be quickly accessible to the target unit, so it isrecommended (although it is not an actual requirement of the protocol)that this list be stored in at least one location where the accesslatency is relatively short. On the other hand, it is recommended thatthe only place where this list is stored is not some volatile storagemedium (such as DRAM), since a power failure could potentially cause theloss of the unit's 100 functionality for an indeterminate amount oftime. We will go into details about this issue later on in this section.

When the checkout period time for a particular key has expired, both theborrower 720 and the lender 710 devices can update their respectivetemporary key list databases independently. Thus, it is not arequirement that the borrower 720 be in contact with the lender 710 unitin order to “return a particular key to circulation”. This is a majorconvenience factor in the case where the borrower 720 and the lender 710devices are widely separated. Of course, the security of this operationmay depend on a very tight correlation between the on-chip clocks thatare used to generate and control the key timestamp records. Thus, thetime/date clock must be an integral part of the security system and, assuch, should be able to be overwritten by a transaction with the centralserver. Also, the clocks must be designed to be robust enough to resisttampering in the case where a malicious user tries to modify theinternal timestamp value 230 and also to be able to survive normallyoccurring system power failures. Since it is not inconceivable that thisclock is battery powered and that the battery could get removed or itcould go dead over time, the system should be designed in such a waythat the clock could potentially be restarted and reset by a secureinteraction with the licensing authority.

Thus, we have described a situation where the ownership of a particularapplication specific key 550 can be temporarily transferred from oneunit to another. At the end of the “loan period”, both the “borrower720” and the “lender 710” units can update their temporary key list datastructures to reflect the “return” of the key to its original owner.Note that this procedure can be carried out independently on both unitsand thus does not require any interaction between the two devices.

We now must deal with the case where one or the other of the temporarykey list data structures is corrupted and/or lost while one or more keysare “checked” out or “on loan”. On the side of the “lender 710” unit,when any keys are checked out, the first thing that it does is todetermine the end of the “loan” period. This value is obviouslyconstructed by adding the duration of the loan period to the value ofthe current time/day field. This time/date value is then compared withthe value that is stored on chip as a result of the last time thedevice's temporary key list was updated. If the new value is greater(later) than the old value, then the new value is overwritten in placeof the old one. On the “borrower 720” side, this same process is used,so that the result is that in any given target unit, the temporary keylist timestamp is always the latest of any of the timestamps which arestored as a part of that particular unit's 100 temporary key list.

If a unit's 100 temporary key list is lost or otherwise improperlymodified, then both the temporary key list and the permanent list aredisabled until the point where this “latest timestamp” value has expired(effectively, a “timeout” period). At that point, then the unit can goback to using the permanent key list and can begin the process ofreconstructing a new temporary key list.

Thus, if a device's temporary list is ever tampered with or deleted,then the unit is effectively rendered inoperative until the timeoutperiod has expired. While this timeout procedure may seem unnecessarilyrestrictive, it avoids the potential problem of multiple copies of anyparticular application specific keys ever existing as a result of somemalicious act or because of some glitch (such as a power outage or anetwork connection going down) which may occur during the transfer of akey from one unit to another. Also, the potential for such severerepercussions as a result of tampering with the temporary key list datastructure should help to discourage the practice by all but the moresophisticated attackers.

There are a number of optional additional features, which could be usedto enhance the operation of the protocol in this regard. One suchpossible option is to add a signed message digest (digital signature)generated from either (or both) of the encrypted key list datastructures to the values that are stored in the target units' on-chipsecurity section. The MAC value resulting from the decryption of thedigital signature could be used to quickly verify the validity of anyparticular key list without having to go through the entire decryptionprocess. However, the issue of multiply nested key lists means that itis entirely likely that this decryption procedure must be performedmultiple times at some point in order to finally produce an unencryptedkey, so it is not critical to the operation of the protocol that thesedigital signatures be stored on-chip.

Another possibility for an enhancement is to store a pair of on-chiptimestamp values rather than just one. The additional timestamp could beused to indicate the earliest (next) time when the temporary key listmust be updated. This would make it easier for the target device 100 todecide when it needs to revise its temporary key list, since it wouldnot have to constantly check over the list (which involves going throughthe decryption process). Although this feature would be very useful,again, it is not a fundamental requirement in order for a unit to beable to execute this protocol. If a system that contains this secondtimestamp is implemented, however, it does bring up a potential forconfusion in the case where the two timestamps get “out of sync” forsome reason. One such example, which comes to mind, is the case wherethere is a power glitch that occurs at the point immediately after onesuch timestamp is written, but before the second one is updated.

The final issue that should be addressed is the matter of what theminimum and maximum limits are for the values of these temporary keylist timestamps. On one hand, a larger limit for the maximum “temporaryloan period” could allow the user to transfer the use of a particulardata application (or media stream) from one unit to another unit for areasonably long period. This would potentially be of use in the casewhere a user wished to transfer ownership of a media stream from their“home unit” to a portable unit. Having a long “checkout period” wouldallow the user to take the portable unit with them (along with itsassociated temporary keys) on a lengthy trip without requiring that theybe in contact with the original “lender” unit 710. The downside of along “checkout” period is that if anything should ever happen to thetemporary key list data structure on the original unit, then that unitwould be potentially disabled for a long time.

This last issue also points out a potential danger for the target unit100 in the case where a piece of malicious code is able to set the valueof the on-chip timestamp register to some indeterminate value. Thiscould potentially be tantamount to disabling the target of the attack,and thus, the value of this timestamp register should only be able to bewritten by a “secure” code block. Again, since each unit will have adistinct set of secret keys, the discovery of one particular unit'ssecret key 104 data should not be a cause for concern for any otherunit, except in the case where a malicious device is able to effectivelymasquerade as a legitimate unit. This mode of attack is discussed in alater section, which deals with issues related to Identity Verification.

Permanent License Transfer

Many of the elements of this procedure have been discussed in earliersections of this document. The basic process by which a specific key ispermanently transferred from one unit to another was shown earlier inFIG. 5. In many ways, this procedure is essentially similar to that ofthe temporary transfer of key ownership as described in the sectionimmediately preceding this one.

The main differences between the two procedures are that the permanenttransfer is a simpler process than the temporary transfer and that thepermanent key ownership transfer procedure should utilize an interactionbetween the licensing authority 510 and the target unit 100. The reasonthat the permanent transfer process is simpler lies in the fact that itdoes not require the checkout time period negotiations that areprerequisites in the temporary key checkout procedure. The reason thatthe permanent transfer function utilizes an interaction between thelicensing authority 510 and the target unit 100 is due to the fact thatthe updated key list data structure must be able to be reconstructed atboth ends of the transaction.

Since a permanent license transfer usually occurs by means of aninteraction with the licensing authority 510, there is a record of whichapplication or media stream specific keys belong to which target units.As was described earlier, this is necessary in the case where the targetunit's 100 key list must be restored after some catastrophic data losssituation or in the case where the ownership of a particular target unit100 is transferred to a different entity. This intervention on the partof the licensing authority 510 is also necessary in the case where thepermanent ownership of a specific key is transferred from one targetunit 100 to another. This ability of the owner to re-sell an asset,which was originally purchased from another entity, is known as the“right of first sale” and the ability for the protocol described hereinto support this particular functionality is of importance.

Another important aspect of the fact that the target unit's 100permanent key list is maintained by the licensing authority 510 is thatthis body has the ability to revoke any or all of an individual targetunit's 100 license keys in the event that it is proven that the unit 100has somehow been compromised or if one of the keys has been identifiedas having been compromised. Since the potential exists to give a uniquelist of keys to each and every target unit 100 (as was described above),there could also provide an opportunity for the licensing authority 510to track the source of any compromised keys. In such a situation, thisprotocol could fulfill the functionality that is normally associatedwith that of a “watermark” feature, but without the drawbacks of thetraditional watermark process (such as the potential of the watermark tohave an adverse effect on the quality of the media stream).

Even though it may not seem to be the case, the digital content owner'sprivacy is still maintained by this process, since the application codeor media stream specific ID information originates with the applicationdeveloper 520 and the licensing authority 510 does not necessarily haveenough information to be able to make the association between anyparticular application or media stream and its licensed owner. Thisability to protect the users' privacy is also an important aspect ofthis protocol.

The final issue that should be noted about the permanent key transferprocess is that it is, in fact, possible to accomplish all of the samefunctions that the permanent key transfer performs with a temporary keylicense transfer. However, the maintenance of the target units' securitysystem is a function which should ideally be controlled by a centralsecure server, so it is necessary to have such a mechanism in placesomewhere in the chain. Also, in the case where the user is concernedabout maintaining their privacy, the fact that the central server canact as a buffer between the copyright holder and the target unit 100 isof great utility. Finally, there is also the appeal that the licensingauthority 510 is able to act as a central backup storage mechanism for aparticular target unit's 100 permanent key list that sets thisfunctionality aside from the temporary key transfer mechanism.

System Ownership Transfer, License Revocation and Security SystemUpdates

There are several different means by which one or more of a targetunit's 100 licenses (or keys) may be revoked. The simplest method isthat of simply updating the target's 100 primary secret key. At thispoint, the target 100 would then be unable to access its permanent keylist and thus, it would have to begin the process of creating a new one.Note that in the case where the primary secret key was not used in theencryption process for the temporary key list data structure, then thistemporary key list could potentially still be accessed, even though thepermanent key list might be otherwise inaccessible. This point wasmentioned earlier in the description of the encryption process for thetemporary key list. For this reason, it is probably the best idea to usethe target unit's 100 primary secret key as the encryption key for boththe permanent and the temporary key list data structures.

In the case where the ownership of the target unit 100 changes from oneindividual to another, then the simplest manner to effect this ownershipchange is to set the unit's 100 primary secret key to some new value.However, if this occurs before the original owner has the opportunity torecover all of their permanent keys from the target, then they will losetheir licenses. In the case where the original owner wishes to transferthe ownership of the associated permanent key list along with the targetunit, then nothing need be done to the target unit 100 except to changethe ownership information that is associated with that particular device(which is stored at the licensing authority 510).

Another manner by which license revocation can occur is if the masterkey for a particular target unit's 100 permanent key list “expires”.Since updates to the unit's 100 security system are stored as a part ofthe permanent key list, this situation could potentially have disastrousrepercussions.

Although it would potentially be possible to recover from thispredicament, it would require that the target 100 would need to have anentirely new “chain of trust” built from the ground up. In thissituation, the core of the newly initialized security system would haveto be based only on those computations that can be verified as beingable to run atomically on some part of the target 100. Thus, this wouldpreclude the use of any hashing function that required even the smallestamount of otherwise general-purpose code (which could potentially besuspect). Fortunately, this situation can be avoided by the simplematter of always keeping a permanent core of verifiably secure codefragments as a part of the permanent key list data structure which doesnot expire. This is, itself a security risk, however, for reasonsdiscussed above, so the contents of this permanent code core should belimited as much as possible.

Yet another manner of license revocation can occur if the licensingauthority 510 chooses to override a particular key entry in a targetunit's 100 permanent or temporary key lists. This could be used in thecase where if a security system upgrade is required or in the case wherea particular target unit 100 has been identified as having an unlicensedcopy of a particular application or media stream. Since the target unit100 normally maintains its own key list data structure, this procedurewill involve a larger than normal amount of network traffic between thelicensing authority 510 and the target unit. Thus, this course of actionshould be reserved for extreme cases.

Nonetheless, such a procedure can be accomplished by forcing the targetdevice 100 in question to revise its security system software with atarget-specific custom version that is designed to search for anddisable the disputed key and/or then replace the older software with anupdated version. Of course, this procedure can only be set in motion atthe point when the target device 100 initiates a connection with thelicensing authority's central server. Under normal circumstances, itcannot be guaranteed that any particular target unit 100 will initiatecontact with the licensing authority 510 on any particular schedule.Fortunately, the target device 100 in question must connect with thelicensing authority 510 (either directly or indirectly) in order toauthorize any new additions to its permanent key list, so any keyrevocation actions can be accomplished as a part of the new keylicensing procedure. It is also possible that the “security systemtimeout” mechanism mentioned earlier could be used to support this “listpolicing” action. However, it is not a requirement for this protocolthat this is the case and it is likely that such a system would resultin an erosion of the users, privacy rights.

Other Concerns:

There are a number of issues, which are not necessarily part of theprotocol itself, but nonetheless must be addressed in the process ofcreating a practical system that is able to properly execute theprotocol described herein. Some of these issues are dependent on theimplementation of the actual processor device and others are mostlyspecific to the application. Since this information is germane to theproper construction of a suitable target device 100, we will discusssome of these issues in the following section.

Limits on the Number of Units which can Interoperate

In the case where the copyright holder wishes to limit the total numberof devices to which the primary target is able to temporarily transferownership, this may be accomplished by means of establishing a limitednumber of public/private key pairs that may be active at any one time.Note that this is different than the case where multiple copies of thesame application specific key(s) were simultaneously “on loan”, whichwas described in an earlier section. Other scenarios are possible, wherethe list of devices which are able to “check out” any of the applicationspecific keys from a particular target device 100 can be limited to acertain set of serial numbers. The licensing authority 510 canadminister such an “approved borrower” list in exactly the same mannerthat the target unit's 100 security system is managed. Thus, thelicensing authority 510 could, for example, limit the set of serialnumbers on the “approved borrowers” list to those who have the sameownership information as the original target device 100. Anotherpossible solution to this problem is to require that any “borrower”device 720 be validated as an “authorized” borrower by presentingcredentials (such as a signed certificate) to the lender which can beverified only by decrypting the certificate with the central LicensingAuthority's 510 public key. This scenario would also, of course, involvethe ability for the Licensing Authority 510 to revoke such a certificatein the case where a particular unit has been determined to becompromised. One well-understood method by which this certificaterevocation process can be accomplished is via a regularly-published“revocation list”.

Secret Key Discovery and Identity Verification Issues

If the primary secret key for a particular player is discovered by meansof physical disassembly and chip die examination, then this should notcompromise the security of any other device, since each device will havea distinct set of secret keys 104. However, if the primary key for aparticular player were somehow compromised then it is potentiallypossible for an unlicensed device to masquerade as a legitimate targetunit. In the case where this problem went undetected, the possibilityexists that an unlicensed device armed with this knowledge couldcompromise any of the application specific decryption keys that wereissued to that particular target unit. Since the target unit's 100serial number 106 would have to have been registered in order for thelicensing authority 510 to issue decryption keys to the device in thefirst place, the problem on this end would ostensibly be limited to theimitation of an otherwise legitimate target unit 100 by an unlicenseddevice.

If both of a unit's 100 secret keys were discovered by means of such aprocess, however, it is possible that it would be possible to compromisethe security of all of the application specific keys which were licensedto that unit, based on an examination of previously backed up copies ofthe encrypted key list digests. For this reason, both the primary andthe secondary secret keys should be implemented on target chip in a“tamper-proof” manner such that any attempt to discover the value ofthese keys results in the loss of the key data.

There are a number of means by which this tamper-proof feature could beimplemented on the target device 100, but the exact implementation ofsuch is not of consequence to the protocol described in this document.If a “secret key loss” situation were to occur through some innocent actof negligence (or abuse) on the part of the user, the legitimate usershould be able to return their damaged unit to the licensing authority510 who could arrange to have the damaged unit's application specifickeys transferred to a new device. It should be noted, however, that inthe case where the original target device 100 is non-functional, thetransfer of the keys to a new target device 100 must involve atransaction with the application developer 520 (at least for those keyswhich were not supplied to the licensing authority 510 in the clear inthe first place).

It should be noted, however, that a device which was able to impersonatean otherwise genuine target unit 100 could ostensibly be able to trickan unsuspecting legitimately licensed device into temporarilyrelinquishing ownership of one or more of its application-specific keysor into suspending operation (as was discussed earlier). If the latterwere to occur, then the possibility exists of having a “rogue unit”which could disable all of the units that attempted to borrow a key fromit. If the former were to occur, then any number of application or mediaspecific keys could potentially be compromised.

Thus, the concept discussed earlier of limiting the number of potential“licensed borrowers” for a particular target unit 100 to a list whichwas only able to be supplied to the legitimate unit by means of a secureupdate from the licensing authority 510 server is a prudent one. In theformer case, this will prevent the owners of otherwise unsuspectingunits from having their legitimate devices disabled by a hacker whotakes apart a functional unit to gain access to its secret keys unlessthat unit actually belonged to them in the first place. In the lattercase, this will limit the transfer of application or media specific keysto only those devices that were at one point licensed devices that wereproperly registered with the licensing authority. Nonetheless, thedetermined hacker could still purchase a legitimate unit, crack it openand somehow gain access to its secret key data and then use thisinformation to masquerade as a legitimate device.

So, the issue remains of how to try to detect this kind of animpersonation event. The only successful strategy to defeat an extremelywell financed opponent of this nature is to design the system such thatthe potential gain is not worth the effort required, at least from acost-tradeoff standpoint.

There are several means of attempting to prove the authenticity of anotherwise unknown device with which one is communicating. However, themost successful method for proving that a device is, in fact, what itclaims to be is to focus on the characteristics that make this deviceunique from other devices. In the case of a special purpose apparatus,such as a digital decryption mechanism, such as that described by thisdocument, it would be the ability for the device to properly execute thesecurity protocol and to calculate the correct result based on a givenset of input variables. Since the security protocol described herein isbased on publicly known algorithms, however, this could ostensibly beaccomplished by any general purpose computing device, given that is hasenough time to complete the computation. In fact, this issue will be apotential problem for any device that is based on publicly availabletechnology, if the secret key information that makes the device uniqueis somehow compromised. Thus, we must ultimately rely on the preceptthat the secret key information which is stored on-chip for all of thelegitimate target devices must remain secret, even in the face ofdisassembly and chip die inspection.

We can certainly add requirements to the target identification andverification process such as the ability to correctly come up with averifiable MAC value within a certain amount of time. We could make theprocedure even harder by requiring that the final MAC value be encryptedmultiple times. Thus, we could potentially limit the ability of theattacker to imitate a legitimate device in that they would be requiredto have access to (more general) computational resources that wouldnormally be much more expensive than the cost of simply purchasinglegitimate copies of the licenses themselves. In the case of a mediastream player, we could also include the ability to correctly decode aportion of one or more of the media streams which the player isostensibly designed to accommodate.

In any case, however, the whole process of digital copyright protectionis a Turing problem. Thus, given sufficient time and resources, anydigital copyright protection scheme can possibly be defeated by thedetermined opponent. This is even independent, of course, of the factthat access to the secret key information would definitely be a bigadvantage to the would-be attacker. The ability to keep a unit's secretkeys from being compromised is therefore an important part of thissecurity protocol.

CONCLUSIONS

The copyright protection protocol described above is unique in severalways. First is the fact that it does not attempt to prohibit the userfrom having the ability to make backup copies of their legally purchasedapplication or media specific key data. Second, this protocol does notmake a distinction between any kinds of digital data and thus, allowsthe security protocol to be updated as easily as the data streams thatit is designed to protect. Third, this protocol allows the user totemporarily transfer ownership of their application or media specifickey(s) to another unit that is capable of executing the protocol. Also,this protocol also provides the ability for the licensee to effect apermanent transfer of ownership from one target unit 100 to another.This last property allows the implementation of the consumer's legal“right of first sale” under this protocol.

In fact, one of the fundamental differences between the protocoldescribed in this document and other copy protection schemes is that thesecurity of this system depends not on controlling the ability to accessa particular data set, but rather on the ability to control the act ofexpressing the ideas contained within that data set.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in theart appreciates that various modifications and changes can be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in theclaims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and allsuch modifications are intended to be included within the scope ofinvention.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any component(s) thatmay cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeature or component of any or all the claims.

1-54. (canceled)
 55. A method for a security protocol for protectingdigital content, comprising: obtaining a first decryption algorithm froma first bit stream; decrypting the remainder of the first bit stream toyield a first decrypted bit stream, wherein the decryption of theremainder of the first bit stream is done utilizing the first decryptionalgorithm obtained from the first bit stream; obtaining a seconddecryption algorithm from the first decrypted bit stream; and decryptingthe remainder of the second bit stream to yield a second decrypted bitstream, wherein the decryption of the remainder of the second bit streamis done utilizing the second decryption algorithm obtained from thesecond bit stream.
 56. The method of claim 55, wherein the seconddecrypted bit stream comprises digital content.
 57. The method of claim56, wherein the digital content comprises audio or video data.
 58. Themethod of claim 56, further comprising receiving the first bit stream ata first target unit, wherein the decryption of the remainder of thefirst bit stream is done utilizing a first key obtained from a server.59. The method of claim 58, wherein the first key is a compound key. 60.The method of claim 59, wherein the first key is encrypted.
 61. Themethod of claim 60, further comprising decrypting the first key to yielda first decrypted compound key.
 62. The method of claim 61, wherein thefirst key is decrypted with a target unit specific key.
 63. The methodof claim 62, wherein the target unit specific key is associated with aserial number of the target unit at the server.
 64. The method of claim63, wherein the target unit specific key is resident in hardware of thetarget unit.
 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the target unitspecific key cannot be read by software.
 66. The method of claim 61,further comprising: encrypting the first decrypted compound key, andstoring the encrypted first decrypted compound key in local storage. 67.The method of claim 66, further comprising: encrypting the firstdecrypted bit stream; and storing the encrypted first decrypted bitstream in local storage.
 68. The method of claim 61, further comprisingdecrypting the first decrypted compound key to yield a second decryptedcompound key, wherein the second decrypted compound key is utilized todecrypt the remainder of the first bit stream.
 69. The method of claim68, wherein the second decrypted compound key cannot be read bysoftware.
 70. The method of claim 68, further comprising: encrypting thesecond decrypted compound key; and storing the encrypted seconddecrypted compound key in local storage.
 71. The method of claim 68,wherein the first decrypted compound key is decrypted with a digitalcontent specific key.
 72. The method of claim 58, wherein the seconddecrypted bit stream is stored in a cache.
 73. The method of claim 72,wherein the cache is a secured instruction cache.
 74. A system forimplementing a security protocol for protecting digital contentcomprising: a target unit comprising: a processor operable to executeinstructions; and a memory operable to store instructions operable toperform the steps of: obtaining a first decryption algorithm from afirst bit stream; decrypting the remainder of the first bit stream toyield a first decrypted bit stream, wherein the decryption of theremainder of the first bit stream is done utilizing the first decryptionalgorithm obtained from the first bit stream; obtaining a seconddecryption algorithm from the first decrypted bit stream; and decryptingthe remainder of the second bit stream to yield a second decrypted bitstream, wherein the decryption of the remainder of the second bit streamis done utilizing the second decryption algorithm obtained from thesecond bit stream.
 75. The system of claim 74, wherein the seconddecrypted bit stream comprises digital content.
 76. The system of claim75, wherein the digital content comprises audio or video data.
 77. Thesystem of claim 75, wherein the decryption of the remainder of the firstbit stream is done utilizing a first key obtained from a server.
 78. Thesystem of claim 77, wherein the first key is a compound key.
 79. Thesystem of claim 78, wherein the first key is encrypted.
 80. The systemof claim 79, wherein the instructions are operable to perform the stepof: decrypting the first key to yield a first decrypted compound key.81. The system of claim 80, wherein the first key is decrypted with atarget unit specific key.
 82. The system of claim 81, wherein the targetunit specific key is associated with a serial number of the target unitat the server.
 83. The system of claim 82, wherein the target unitspecific key is resident in hardware of the target unit.
 84. The systemof claim 83, wherein the target unit specific key cannot be read bysoftware.
 85. The system of claim 80, wherein the instructions areoperable to perform the steps of: encrypting the first decryptedcompound key; and storing the encrypted first decrypted compound key inlocal storage.
 86. The method of claim 85, wherein the instructions areoperable to perform the steps of: encrypting the first decrypted bitstream; and storing the encrypted first decrypted bit stream in localstorage.
 87. The system of claim 80, wherein the instructions areoperable to perform the step of decrypting the first decrypted compoundkey to yield a second decrypted compound key, wherein the seconddecrypted compound key is utilized to decrypt the remainder of the firstbit stream.
 88. The system of claim 87, wherein the second decryptedcompound key cannot be read by software.
 89. The system of claim 87,wherein the instructions are operable to perform the steps of:encrypting the second decrypted compound key; and storing the encryptedsecond decrypted compound key in local storage.
 90. The system of claim87, wherein the first decrypted compound key is decrypted with a digitalcontent specific key.
 91. The system of claim 77, wherein the seconddecrypted bit stream is stored in a cache.
 92. The system of claim 91,wherein the cache is a secured instruction cache.
 93. A method for asecurity protocol for protecting digital content, comprising; obtaininga first decrypton algorithm from a first bit stream; decrypting theremainder of the first bit stream to yield a first decrypted bit stream,wherein the decryption of the remainder of the first bit stream is doneutilizing the first decryption algorithm obtained from the first bitstream; obtaining a first portion of the first decrypted bit stream; anddetermining that the first portion of the first decrypted bit stream isan indicator signifying that the remainder of the second bit stream isdigital content in the clear.
 94. The method of claim 93, wherein theindicator is a unity operator or a flag.
 95. A method for a securityprotocol for protecting digital content, comprising: obtaining a firstdecryption algorithm from a first bit stream; decrypting the remainderof the first bit stream to yield a first decrypted bit stream, whereinthe decryption of the remainder of the first bit stream is doneutilizing the first decryption algorithm obtained from the first bitstream; obtaining a first portion of the first decrypted bit stream;obtaining a second decryption algorithm using the first portion of thefirst decrypted bit stream; and decrypting the remainder of the secondbit stream to yield a second decrypted bit stream, wherein thedecryption of the remainder of the second bit stream is done utilizingthe second decryption algorithm.
 96. The method of claim 95, wherein thefirst portion of the first decrypted bit stream is a location of thesecond decryption algorithm in memory.